Is Ceftobiprole a Safe and Effective Treatment for Skin and Skin Structure Infections?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to determine whether or not ceftobiprole is a safe and effective treatment for complicated skin and skin structure infections STUDY DESIGN: Review of all English language primary randomized controlled trials from 1996-2010 DATA SOURCES: Three randomized controlled trials were found using Pubmed and Cochrane databases OUTCOMES MEASURES: Skin or skin-structure infection cure with ceftobiprole intervention and adverse effects of this new pharmaceutical. Cure or failure to cure skin infection was determined based on both clinical and microbiological assessment. Adverse events were measured based on patient reports, clinician reports, labs, and vital sign assessment. RESULTS: Noel, Strauss et al. found statistically significant cure rates of complicated skin and skin-structure infections with intervention of ceftobiprole compared to the standard control arm. Noel, Bush et al. found similar results when comparing ceftobiprole with the control arm. Both studies concluded that ceftobiprole was non-inferior to the leading treatment for complicated skin infections, and caused complete microbiological and clinical resolution of complicated skin infections. Schmitt-Hoffmann et al. concluded that ceftobiprole was safe for human consumption with no severe adverse effects noted. CONCLUSIONS: Cefrobiprole is comparable to vancomycin in both safety and effectiveness for treatment for skin and skin-structure infections